I like Guy Pearce a good deal. And I like what he’s sort of been doing lately in his career in which he’s taking small-ish supporting roles in amazing films with great ensembles. Whether it’s The Hurt Locker, Animal Kingdom or The King’s Speech, he’s been lending his experience and talent in small key roles and really nailing it. In Lockout, however, he’s front and center as Snow, a man who in a near future has been wrongly convicted of a crime, and who’s only shot at freedom depends on him rescuing the President’s daughter from a maximum security prison in outer space that’s been taken over by inmates.

As if we didn’t want to see Prometheus enough already, the new three-minute international trailer for it is just too insanely awesome and will actually manage to get you even more psyched for this one. And you can watch it after the cut.

I finally got around to seeing Drew Goddard‘s The Cabin in the Woods. It’s been a couple of weeks since it’s release, and of course I had heard the massive buzz that’s surrounded the film about its insanely awesome twists and turns; I had, however, thankfully, also managed to stay totally in the dark about the nature of said twists and turns, so that I would get their full awe-inspiring impact as I watched the film. And damn am I glad I managed to stay in the dark about the whole thing; The Cabin in the Woods is undoubtedly one of the best films of the year so far, a meta-horror flick that will manage to genuinely thrill you and surprise you while also having a terrific sense of humor.

The Pirates! Band of Misfits is Aardman Animations fifth feature-length film, and the second under their current deal with Sony Pictures Animation. And once again they continue their streak of impeccable animation. I remember that after seeing their 2011 effort, Arthur Christmas (which I gave an A- to), I kind of wanted them to go back to the claymation that they are known for, instead of keep dabbling in CG like they did in that film and in the one prior to that one, Flushed Away. And in The Pirates! Band of Misfits they manage to blend the two together, using their stop-motion animation technique alongside quite a bit of CG to complement that spectacularly in how they built the sceneries and extended their sets. And not only is this so expertly made, but it also keeps the studio’s reputation for providing us with some of the smartest animated fare out there.

Since Marvel started to produce their own films, the ultimate goal had always been assembling all of their superheroes into one huge omnibus-style movie with The Avengers, to maximize fandom and thus maximize commercial potential. That idea, of course, entirely depended on the success of the superheroes’ stand-alone outings, and on how successful the studio would be at creating a universe in which all of these characters co-exist, which was dubbed the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Judd Apatow is back in the director’s chair this year for the first time since 2009’s Funny People (which was a bit of a flop, though I personally liked it). But anyway’s, the film he has lined up for this year, This Is 40, is a “sort-of” sequel to his great Knocked Up, and the first trailer for it has just been released, and you can watch it after the cut.

Les Misérables is a bit too over-the-top and pompous, but it’s still seriously well-made, with a passion and energy that translates to the performances (with one critical omission) even if it doesn’t always do the same with the vocals. Read my review for it here.

Zero Dark Thirty, Kathryn Bigelow’s follow-up to The Hurt Locker is an undeniable masterpiece, a film that’s both disturbing and 100% necessary, the most vital film about post-9/11 America. Read my review for it here.